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I get tutored through my school's learning center, and they assign you a tutor to work with for the semester. Last semester, I had a great tutor who helped me get a B in trigonometry, a virtual miracle for me! She was friendly, funny, and really helpful.
This year, though, my old tutor has graduated, and I was assigned someone new. Here's the thing, I really dislike my new tutor.
He's a pretty decent tutor (not the best I've had, but not the worst either), but he is so difficult to get along with during our tutoring sessions that it is driving me crazy. He's kind of argumentative, says some abrasive things, and is very curt with how he talks to me.
We've talked a little bit about it, but he tells me that I'm being too sensitive, and that once I get to know him I'll "get over it." It's been 2 months, and things are only getting worse every week.
Needless to say, I'm not happy.
Any ideas on what to do next?
During our last meeting, he practically yelled at me for "not getting" a complex math problem, told me to "shut up" when I asked a question, and then got huffy when I said that I needed more time to work on it.
Thanks, Micki.
Signed, Allison P. from SC
Answer: Hi, Allison, sorry to hear about your tutoring situation. Conflicts in personality, and attitude types not meshing, can make tutoring difficult. In some cases it becomes uncomfortable, and that can lead to unproductive tutoring that can feel like a total waste of time.
Sorry to say, that sounds like the boat you are in right now with your tutor. Since you've tried talking things through with him, and that didn't work, your next step should be talking to the learning center coordinator at your school.
Trust me when I say that the person in charge of the tutor learning center has undoubtedly heard this before, and he or she should have something in place to help match you with a more suitable tutor. I am 99% sure that your learning center supervisor has fixed a situation just like yours before, and it won't be a big deal to switch to someone more suitable for your tutoring needs.
That said, I also think that it is important for you to be very open and honest with the learning center supervisor. Tell her exactly what you wrote in here to the blog. It is important for the supervisor of the learning center to know what is going on with the tutors. Let him or her know that this tutor could use help with communication, and express your thoughts on how he makes you feel during sessions.
Tutoring requires patience, great communication skills, and the ability to help others learn. It doesn't sound like he is performing too well on any of those fronts right now, and may need some help in the form of tutor training. Harsh as it may sound, if your tutor refuses to change after talking to a supervisor, it may be best that he find another line of work.
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